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Mike Marteny highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 5/17/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
The Reds and Giants had the audacity to start a half hour earlier than everyone else, so our MLB slate on FanDuel is cut down to eight games. We still have a couple of five-figure pitchers out there tonight. Are either of them worth paying for, or can we get similar production at a lower price? We'll check on that along with some pitchers to attack. First, the weather report.
Pop-up showers could happen early on in Dallas, but the worst that might happen is a delay. The game should play. They may have to close the roof in Seattle, which would take away the 12 mph wind out to center. Texas will have a crosswind that could affect some balls hit high in the air. There won't be any wind-aided homers tonight though.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 5/17/2021. Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Yu Darvish – SD vs. COL ($11,100)
Many game log watchers are going to avoid Darvish because of his lackluster performance at Coors last week. It wasn't that he got rocked or anything. In fact, Darvish didn't even give up a run. He just threw 76 pitches on only four innings. The Padres just decided that they weren't going to leave him in there long enough to get blown up when he clearly didn't have his best stuff. As per usual, the Rockies are hitting 41 points lower on the road and have just nine road homers on the year. We could see a dominant performance by Darvish today. I have a hard time moving off of him here. His disappointing start in Denver last week just has me wanting to run him more because I think most will pay up for Cole. I'll go ahead and say that Darvish will outscore Cole today. It's coming.
Potential Alternate Play
Yusei Kikuchi – SEA vs. DET ($9,000)
It took a bit for Kikuchi to properly adjust to the majors, and the debacle that was 2020 certainly didn't help him any. However, he seems to be settling in this year. Kikuchi still gives up some runs, but he has 29 strikeouts over his last three starts. That's a good way to become a DFS All-Star. Detroit has hit righties better, but they are still awful against southpaws. The Tigers are hitting just .204 with two homers in 314 at bats against left-handed pitching. I'll say that again for the cheap seats: Two home runs in 314 at bats! Add in the .205 average on the road and the Tigers are in serious trouble tonight. They strike out at an alarming rate (32%) anyway. Kikuchi could break the slate with the way he's been striking out hitters of late.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Andrew Vaughn – 1B/OF, CWS at MIN ($2,300)
We need money for a pitcher. We need money for Cruz. We need money for the BvP monsters on this slate. Since no first basemen really jumped out at me today, I'll drop down to Vaughn. He hit his first career homer against Happ five days ago. Both of his career homers have come this week. Even though the Royals slowed him down a bit, but Vaughn has hit lefties much better so far in his young career. He's too cheap in this spot and a great way to save money.
Cesar Hernandez – 2B, CLE at LAA ($2,300)
Cleveland is a tough one to peg tonight. I want to go after Patrick Sandoval and his 6.14 ERA, but he's not going to go very deep into this game. Do I really want to get all those lefty killers that can't hit righties in my lineup? Cleveland has a ton of them. I split the difference and decided to shore up a weak position with a cheap leadoff batter who hits lefties pretty well. The only problem is that Hernandez is off to a slow start this year. Maybe this will get him going. For this price, it's worth finding out.
Justin Turner – 3B, LAD vs. ARI ($3,800)
This isn't as much of a lock as it would have been in the first couple weeks of the season. That was before MadBum gave up just three earned runs combined in his last five starts. He even has a seven inning no-hitter against the Braves in that span! We will never see the Madison Bumgarner that we saw in the 2014 World Series again. I get that. However, we might be seeing the MadBum from, say, 2016. So why am I willing to run Turner against him? Turner has a lengthy and good track record against Bumgarner. He is 19-71(.268) with four homer and eight RBI off of MadBum in his career. This is a good way to leverage a lot of ownership that may be tilted MadBum's way because of the way he's pitched lately.
Tim Anderson – SS, CWS at MIN ($3,800)
There's a lot of fantasy goodness in this game. We have two junkballing lefties in J.A. Happ and Dallas Keuchel. Both have struggled against each other's teams in the past. Anderson has clobbered Happ, going 11-19(.579) with two homers, five RBI, and a steal against him so far. When someone's hitting .579 against another pitcher, I take notice. Oh, and he's batting leadoff. There's a lot to like here.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Mike Trout – OF, LAA vs. CLE ($4,300)
We have Trout against a lefty making his second career start. Advantage: Trout. Sam Hentges has been solid out of the bullpen and was good in his first start, but Mike Trout is.....well....Mike Trout. He is actually worse against lefties over the course of his career, and especially this season, but a positive correction is incoming soon. Trout doesn't hit .265 in any split. It just doesn't happen. I'll say that it starts to correct itself tonight.
Nelson Cruz – OF, MIN vs. CWS ($3,700)
When Dallas Keuchel takes the mound against Nelson Cruz, you play him. Cruz is 18-52(.346) with six homers and ten RBI in his career against Keuchel. And yes, he did take Keuchel deep in his start against Minnesota last Wednesday. This is a large enough sample size that BvP can be taken seriously. Cruz has Keuchel's number.
Joey Gallo – OF, TEX vs. NYY ($3,100)
There's a couple of reasons for this play. First off, Gallo has slugged four homers - all solo shots - off of Gerrit Cole in his career. You are playing this looking for a homer. Plain and simple. Another less common reason is to try and gain some leverage on those that rolled Cole. There will be many. I'm fully prepared to come away from this with nothing, but I'll take the shot. That's what GPP tournaments are for.
FanDuel DFS Stacks Options
- New York Yankees
- Minnesota-White sox game stack
- San Diego Padres
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